FAIRLESS HILLS, Pa. — With a ton of starting underclassmen, including three juniors in the backfield and two sophomores at linebacker, the pre-season thinking was the Pennsbury football team might be a year away.

While it remains true Falcon fans are already salivating about all their team might accomplish next year, Pennsbury is already way of ahead of schedule and possibly on the verge of a truly monster season.

With undefeated Neshaminy coming to Falcon Field tonight in the showdown for the Suburban One National title, Pennsbury has clearly evolved into a different team than the one that failed to hold a halftime lead in a season-opening loss to District 11 powerhouse Easton.

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From the get-go, it was obvious Pennsbury was going to have a very potent offense. What wasn’t so clear was what kind of defense the Falcons would have after graduating nine starters on that side of the ball.

To the delight of all, the Pennsbury defense has showed steady improvement, In fact, it has become one of the best in all of District 1. After giving up 38 points to Easton, Pennsbury has allowed only 61 since.

Under the able leadership of defensive coordinator Dan McShane, the key to Pennsbury’s defense has been its ability to get to the ball. The line is quick, the linebackers attack and the secondary has given up very little through the air. The aggressive nature of the Pennsbury defense is not lost on Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt.

“I’m very impressed by that group,” Schmidt said. “Their defense plays like their hair is on fire.”

As for the Pennsbury offense, it has been pretty much unstoppable all year long. Beginning with the Easton game, the fewest amount of points it has scored in a game is 26. In many of its games, Pennsbury could have easily scored 50 or more points.

The guy who makes the show go is junior quarterback Breon Clark. Very adept at handling the ball in the team’s Wing-T offense, Clark is a dangerous runner. As usual, Pennsbury doesn’t throw the ball much, but Clark has displayed a very strong arm when it does.

In addition to a huge and experienced offensive line featuring physical tight end Elliot Muka, making the Pennsbury “Ground and Pound” offense difficult to stop is the way it can attack from so many different angles and positions.

Junior running back Charles Snorweah is the big gun in the offense and leads the teams in touchdowns, but not far behind are senior Ronquay Smith and junior Raheem Thompson. These three are not the biggest backs around, but all of them can fly and run the ball hard inside.

For good measure, junior Michael Geary has developed into a dependable kicker for the Falcons.

As bright as its future might be, Pennsbury right now is living in the moment. And no matter what happens tonight this thing is far from finished because Pennsbury and Neshaminy are both more than capable of deep playoff runs.